Guxian Dam Project is located between Qikou to Yumenkou in the middle Yellow River, about 10 km upstream of Hukou Waterfall, and 238 km below Qikou dam site. The Project controls 65% of the total drainage area of the river basin, 80% of the total runoff, 60% of its sediment and 80% of its coarse sediment.

The Project will be one of the backbone complexes on the Yellow River and in the water-sediment regulation system of the river. The functions include flood control and downstream sedimentation reduction, as well as water supply, irrigation and power generation. The normal water level of the reservoir is 627 m, and the total storage capacity is 13.059 billion m³, of which 9.342 billion m³ will be used for sediment trapping. The installed capacity is 2100 MW, and the annual average power generation is 5.784 billion kWh.

The main feature is a RCC gravity dam with a crest width of 15 m, maximum height of 215 m, and a crest length of 990 m. The dam contains 18.36 million m³ concrete and will be the highest and largest RCC type on red-beds soft foundation in China. The foundation consists of interbedded layers of sandstone, siltstone and claystone, with several bedding plane shear zones and clay intercalation in high connectivity and low shear strength. Thus, the sliding stability is a salient problem. Flood and sediment discharge structures are arranged in deep river course, the power generation systems and sediment flushing structures are at the right side, and the non-overflow sections are at the left and right banks. 8 low-level outlets, 4 mid-level outlets and 3 crest spillways are arranged through the dam. The 1,000-year and 10,000-year floods are applied in the design and check of main structures. Earthquake intensity VII is adopted.

The preliminary study of Yellow River Guxian Dam Project started in 2000, and evaluation of the feasibility study and the approval are actively in progress.